On the morning of November 7, 2025, at the Hai Phong City Conference and Performance Center, the Hai Phong City People’s Committee held a conference on science and technology investment cooperation and a signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation between the Hai Phong City People’s Committee and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).
Hai Phong Party Committee Secretary Le Tien Chau speaks at the conference.
Le Tien Chau, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the City Party Committee and Head of the Hai Phong National Assembly Delegation, chaired the conference. Participants included Hoang Minh Cuong, Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committee; leaders of city departments, sectors, institutes, universities, colleges and business associations; and the KIST delegation led by Dr. Oh Sang Rok, President of KIST, together with experts, research-center leaders and Korean technology enterprises in the institute’s ecosystem.
Overview of the “Science and Technology Investment Cooperation Conference”.
In his welcoming remarks, Secretary Le Tien Chau emphasized that Hai Phong has always identified science, technology and innovation as key drivers of rapid and sustainable development. The city focuses on expanding international cooperation with leading research institutes and organizations worldwide, with KIST as a particularly important strategic partner. As the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and South Korea continues to grow, South Korea is one of Hai Phong’s largest investors, especially in manufacturing and high technology. Cooperation with KIST will go beyond academic research to connect science with practice and create a bridge for enterprises of both countries to develop new technologies together.
The Party Committee Secretary praised KIST’s research capacity and technology-transfer experience, affirming that cooperation would help Hai Phong access core technologies and advanced knowledge-management models and gradually realize its ambition to become a leading science and technology center in the Northern Key Economic Region. The city committed to creating the most favorable conditions for KIST and Korean enterprises to implement cooperation projects effectively in Hai Phong.
Dr. Sang-Rok Oh, President of KIST.
Speaking at the conference, KIST President Dr. Oh Sang Rok thanked the city leaders for their thoughtful reception and affirmed that KIST was ready to accompany Hai Phong in building an innovation ecosystem, promoting joint research and technology transfer, supporting start-ups and developing high-quality human resources. KIST hopes to help make Hai Phong a center of innovation in Vietnam and South Korea’s leading strategic partner in science and technology.
At the conference, the Hai Phong City People’s Committee and KIST officially signed an MOU on science, technology and innovation. The memorandum expands and specifies the 2024 cooperation agreement and identifies seven priority areas, with the establishment of the “KIST – HaiPhong Tech Hub” as the centerpiece. The hub will be a technology cooperation and innovation center serving as the core of the city’s growth-model transformation strategy.
The main cooperation areas include research and development of advanced materials, marine biotechnology, and biomedical technology; cooperation in green energy, circular energy, digital technology and artificial intelligence; training and development of science and technology human resources; and organization of workshops and knowledge-transfer forums and technology connections between KIST and institutes, schools and enterprises in Hai Phong.
Signing ceremony for the MOU between the Hai Phong City People’s Committee and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).
Speaking on implementation of the MOU, Vice Chairman Hoang Minh Cuong emphasized that this cooperation signing was an important milestone, translating the bilateral relationship between Hai Phong and KIST into highly practical science and technology projects. The city will follow the “six clear” principle: clear people, clear tasks, clear responsibilities, clear schedules, clear products and clear results. The Department of Science and Technology was assigned to lead and coordinate with KIST’s International Cooperation Division and relevant units to establish a specialized working group and turn each MOU provision into feasible programs and projects, beginning in the first quarter of 2026.
The conference also heard presentations from Hai Phong University of Medicine and Pharmacy, representatives of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board and Korean enterprises on the need for advanced biological research cooperation and investment potential in the city’s industrial parks, economic zones and Free Trade Zone.
The MOU signing between Hai Phong and KIST is an important turning point, opening a new phase of cooperation in research, technology transfer and innovation. It will help promote Hai Phong as a science and technology center in the northern region, contribute to sustainable socio-economic development, and further strengthen Vietnam–South Korea cooperation in science and technology.
Hai Phong Investment Promotion – Employment – Business Support Center